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Commentary
Happy Holidays! Are You Ready?
Is all your product staged for this holiday season? Some companies were not ready for the shopping frenzy last year, and it wasn’t just the dot.com failure to execute and deliver in time. Low inventory levels and faster moving supply chains, given the growing practice of inbound logistics, offer high rewards but there are high […]
Read MoreLeveraging the Power of XML for Supply Chain Integration
Using the Internet to automate the supply chain process is a growing worldwide trend. While many players from diverse backgrounds have entered the field, that does not mean they all have the right stuff to make it in this market. These players—whether providers or users—have to keep in mind the need for new and robust […]
Read MoreUnderstand the Net, Don’t Get Caught In It
This past year has seen an unprecedented move toward consolidation of the supply chain and the Internet. It also has seen a major push toward integrated trading exchanges. These trends are keeping consultants such as Advanced Manufacturing Research (AMR), The Gartner Group, Dataquest, and Aberdeen Group pretty busy. Here’s a look at what these analysts […]
Read MoreE-Commerce Changes Rules for Back-End Operations
Prior to 1999, every aspect of back-end support operations for the direct marketing industry was tailored to meet the typical cataloger’s needs. In the 1970s and 1980s, direct marketing was limited to the mailbox, and order processing and fulfillment operations were designed to meet the catalog or direct mail customer’s demands. The costs and requirements […]
Read MoreWarehouse Without Wires
Last month in this column, Publisher Keith Biondo gave voice to the challenge of adapting to Internet change as a growing tide of logistics dot.coms sweeps our industry. His head hurt from trying to keep up with this Internet thing—so much change, so many choices. Well, just as the pain was easing (we thought), they’ve […]
Read MoreSpecialty Products: Don’t Get Boxed In
Thinking outside the box is good advice to follow—both figuratively and literally—when it comes to shipping odd-sized, high-value products such as structural components, store fixtures, trade show exhibits, display cases, office furnishings, computers, and related merchandise. Indeed the box or crate, with its attendant cost and downtime delays of packing and handling, can critically limit […]
Read MoreBuying an ERP System in the Internet Age
The standard business model on which an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is based is inherently inward-looking. An ERP system, typically with client-server architecture and a Windows interface, works on the assumption that a fairly small number of company employees within a specific department will need to access an application. The advent of the Internet […]
Read MoreIs Your Supply Chain Achieving Customer Loyalty?
Business logistics executives face four major challenges: Achieving dramatic reductions in time-to-market. Creating value for shareholders. Marketing their supply chain as a competitive edge. Earning customer loyalty. Organizations must focus time, attention, and dollars on these areas. While many companies have plans to achieve challenges one through three, market leaders know that without true customer […]
Read MoreGlobal e-Logistics Comes of Age
The technologies available through the Internet, combined with ongoing advances in logistics software development, have given supply chain management an enormous boost—far greater than those who first promulgated the supply chain could have anticipated. The scale of solutions has increased while the volume of transactions has grown at a staggering rate. This is a time […]
Read MoreThe e-Enabling of Hub Group
The advantages of collaborative partnerships in the emerging world of e-business logistics are numerous. As portals, application service providers, and other services burst forth into this arena, it is important to understand that no enterprise is large enough to do it all alone. Hub Group Inc., Lombard, Ill., a non-asset-based transportation management company specializing in […]
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